Furniture footpad

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates generally furniture legs and furniture anchors, more specifically, the invention relates to a furniture pad that prevents slip and is operable to temporarily anchor furniture to various surfaces without transferring residual adhesives to the mounting surface, and is washable and reusable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally furniture legs and furnitureanchors, more specifically, the invention relates to a furniture padthat prevents slip and is operable to temporarily anchor furniture tovarious surfaces without transferring residual adhesives to the mountingsurface, and is washable and reusable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Furniture pads are used to either prevent the sliding of furniture oraid in moving furniture around without damaging flooring. Felt pads areoften used to aid in moving furniture around. Most anti-slip or non-slipresistant pads and mats for furniture have a cupped structure that covesaround the furniture leg or has a cup shape operable to receive the baseof a furniture foot without the use of adhesives. Other non-slipfurniture pads have a felt pad with a rubber bottom surface that issecured to the furniture leg. However, the furniture pads on the marketperform poorly on different mounting surfaces, lose their adhesiveproperties over time and slip off the furniture leg causing adhesiveresidue to transfer to the floor, and often collect dirt and debris thatis difficult to remove from the furniture pad without damaging thefurniture pad's adhesive. Thus, there is a need for a furniture pad thatis operable to secure to various furnishings, does not transfer adhesiveresidue to the floor, and is washable and reusable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an anti-slip footpad that is washable,reusable, and operable to temporarily anchor furniture to the floorwithout transferring any adhesive residue to a flooring surface. Thefootpad of the present invention may comprise mainly two pieces, (1) arigid body and (2) an adhesive pad. The rigid body may have a cavitywith a geometry that is complementary to a furniture leg's exteriorgeometry. The adhesive pad may secure permanently to a bottom surface ofthe rigid body cavity and may be operable to temporarily secure thefurniture leg to various flooring surfaces. Ideally, a footpad isattached to the bottom foot of each leg of furnishing, for example,furniture may include tables, sofas, chairs, curio cabinets, desks,armoires, barstools, patio chairs, washers, dryers because somefurniture has a leg positioned in the center of furnishing it may onlybe necessary to provide footpads on the exterior legs because thecentered leg may be challenging to access.

The footpad of the present invention may be incorporated into variousfurnishings. Because furniture legs come in various shapes and sizes,the cross-sectional geometry of the footpad cavity may be shaped to havea substantially equivalent interior geometry and, in some embodiments,the cavity may be sized to frictionally secure around an exteriorsurface of the leg. The cavity includes a top edge and an interiorsurface that has a depth ranging from about one-eighth of an inch (1/16″) to about one and one-quarter inch (1-½″). The footpad may have atapering exterior surface that connects a top edge of the cavity to abottom edge of the exterior surface. The exterior surface may have auniform thickness and has an interior surface and the cavity may have anouter surface that is separated from each other, creating a hollowconstruction. The bottom surface of the cavity may be offset from thebottom edge of the exterior surface to provide a space operable toreceive the adhesive pad and allow for the exterior surface to flexabout the top edge of the cavity when the footpad is secured to thefurniture leg and under the weight of the furniture. In someembodiments, the footpad may have a front tab that protrudes out fromthe exterior surface and provide a user with a surface for removing,securing, and configuring the furniture pad in the desiredconfiguration. Thus, the footpad may include a cavity, an exteriorsurface, and a front tab that are manufactured as a single piece fromplastic materials, such as thermoplastics and elastomers, that aresubstantially rigid, for example, not limiting the invention,thermoplastics used may be polyamide, polystyrene, polypropylene,acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or another suitable rubbermaterial that is capable of being, injected, molded, or formed.

The footpad of the present invention includes an adhesive padpermanently secured to the bottom surface of the cavity. The adhesivepad may be provided as a Nano Gel, which has a nanostructure, that isoperable to secure items to various surfaces without leaving behind asticky residue on the mounting surface. The gel includes a soft anddurable rubber that has strong adhesive properties that may be restoredwhen the gel is washed with water, for example, Nano Polyurethane gel(Nano PU gel) sold under the trademark Nano Grab™ is a nano gel tape andmay be used as an adhesive for securing the footpad system to theground. The nano gel pad may be secured to the footpad's bottom surfacewith an adhesive that is operable to permanently fix the nano gel pad tothe footpad. The footpad and combination nano gel pad may be washed withwater to remove excess debris and dirt. Once the footpad and gel havedried, the adhesive properties of the nano gel pad return, and thefootpad may be secured to the furniture leg foot and the furniture maybe temporarily secured to the desired location. In some embodiments, thefootpad may have a three-piece construction, including a flexiblemid-plate, a permanent adhesive, and a nano gel tape. The permanentadhesive may fix the mid-plate to the cavity bottom surface. The nanogel tape may be fixed on the opposite side of the mid-plate and may beoperable to secure the footpad to the ground temporarily. The nano geltape may be washed and cleaned to remove dirt and dust from the footpadand the adhesive properties of the nano gel tape may be restored forresecuring furniture to the floor. The nano gel may adhere to variousflooring surfaces such as vinyl, laminate, tile, hardwood, carpeting,concrete, and etc.

In some embodiments, the footpad of the present invention may include abase having a top and bottom surface that have a geometry complementaryto the bottom surface of the furniture leg. The footpad includes afastener centrally positioned and operable to thread into the bottomsurface of the furniture leg. The bottom surface of the footpad may havean adhesive pad secured to the bottom surface and may have asingle-piece nano gel construction that is cemented to the bottomsurface with an adhesive, such as, for example, a nano adhesive.

It is an aspect of the present invention to provide an anti-slipfurniture footpad comprising: a rigid body comprising a bottom surface,a top surface, a perimeter, and a cavity having a geometry operable toreceive a foot of a furniture leg; and an adhesive pad secured to therigid body's bottom surface, wherein the adhesive pad is permanentlysecured to the bottom surface of the rigid body on one end and isoperable to temporarily secure the footpad to the floor on an oppositeend thereby positioning the furniture and preventing slip of thefurniture foot. The adhesive pad may have a polyurethane nanostructurethat is washable with water and is reusable when the adhesive pad dries.The rigid body may be manufactured from thermoplastics using extrusion,injection, and molding manufacturing methods. The rigid body cavity maybe secured around the furniture leg with a depth in a range of about0.125 inches to 1 inch. The cavity may have a geometry that iscomplementary to the perimeter of the furniture leg. The temporaryadhesive may be a polyurethane gel that may be operable to be cleanedwith water while retaining the adhesive properties after drying. Thefootpad may be further comprising a tab tapering off the top edge of thetop surface to the bottom surface and may be operable to provide asurface for gripping and removing the rigid body from the furniture leg.The adhesive pad may be further comprising a semi-flexible platecomprising a top surface having a permanent adhesive operable to securethe plate to the rigid body bottom surface and a bottom surface having atemporary adhesive. The temporary adhesive may be operable to anchor therigid body to the floor without transferring adhesive residue to thefloor.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a furniturefootpad comprising: a rigid body comprising a bottom surface, a topsurface, and a perimeter; a fastener on a top surface operable to securesaid rigid body to a furniture leg; and a temporary adhesive pad havinga top surface permanently fixed to the bottom surface of the rigid bodyand includes a bottom surface operable to secure the footpad to thefloor temporarily, wherein the rigid body is secured to a bottom of aleg of the furniture with the fastener and replaces any existing pad ofsaid furniture and may be operable to adhere to a surface therebypreventing slip of the furniture foot. The adhesive pad may include apolyurethane nanostructure that is washable with water and is reusablewhen the adhesive pad dries. The fastener may be threaded into thebottom surface of a foot of a furniture leg and permanently secures thefootpad to the furniture leg. The fastener on the rigid body top surfacemay be centrally positioned on the top surface and may have a centralaxis that is perpendicular to the top surface. The rigid body perimeteris complementary to a perimeter of the furniture leg. The rigid bodyperimeter may be substantially circular, rectangular, square, oval,triangular and may be flush with the perimeter of the furniture leg. Thepolyurethane nanostructure may be operable to not transfer any residueto the floor after removal from the securing area.

Further aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those having skillin the art from the description and disclosure provided herein.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an anti-slipfoot pad for furniture that is washable, reusable, and operable toanchor furniture temporarily to the floor and prevent lateral movementor sliding.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an anti-slipfootpad that is suitable for a plurality of different types offurnishings and does not require fabrication to secure the furniture'slegs.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an adhesivefor temporarily mounting furniture to various surfaces withouttransferring any adhesive residue; surfaces may include vinyl, laminate,tile, hardwood, carpeting, and finished concrete.

The above-described objects, advantages and features of the invention,together with the organization and manner of operation thereof, willbecome apparent from the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements havelike numerals throughout the several drawings described herein. Furtherbenefits and other advantages of the present invention will becomereadily apparent from the detailed description of the preferredembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of a furniture leg footpad, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 provides a top view of a furniture leg footpad, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 provides a frontal view of a furniture leg footpad, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 provides a cross sectional view of a furniture leg footpad aboutthe centerline A-A of FIG. 3 , according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 provides a side view of a furniture leg footpad, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 provides a bottom view of a furniture leg footpad, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 provides a expanded cross-sectional view of a furniture legfootpad, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 provides a top view of a furniture leg footpad, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 provides an exploded front view of a furniture leg footpad,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A provides a top view of a footpad and a fastener centrallypositioned around the perimeter of the body according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 10B provides a top view of a footpad and a fastener centrallypositioned around the perimeter of the body according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 11 provides a perspective view of an anti-slip furniture footpadthat may be incorporated into the legs of a chair, sofa, or otherfurniture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to certain embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in reference to theseembodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limitthe invention. To the contrary, the invention is intended to coveralternatives, modifications, and equivalents that are included withinthe spirit and scope of the invention. In the following disclosure,specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe present invention may be practiced without all of the specificdetails provided.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designatelike or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and referringparticularly to FIGS. 1-11 . It is seen that this embodiment of thepresent invention concerns an anti-slip furniture footpad 100 that maybe incorporated into the legs of a chair, sofa, or other furniturehaving legs 400L as illustrated in FIG. 11 . It is seen that the footpad100 includes a cavity 102 spanning from a bottom surface 101 to a topedge 109 and has an interior sidewall 107 that may be operable to securearound an exterior surface of the furniture legs footing. The cavity mayhave a bottom surface 102 b on the underside of the footpad having apermanently secured adhesive pad 110 (e.g., nanostructure polyurethanegel) that may be operable to position and secure the footpad 100 to theground. The adhesive pad 110 may be washable with water, and theadhesive properties of the pad are restored once dried and may bereused; the adhesive pad 110 is illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 4,6, and 7 . The footpad 100 may be washed with water to remove dirt anddust from the footpad 100 and the adhesive pads 110 viscidity isretained, and the strong adhesive properties are restored and may bereused once the pad is dried. The body 100 may be manufactured fromthermoplastic or similar polymeric materials through extrusion,injection, molding, and similar manufacturing methods.

In some embodiments, the base perimeter 101 may have a wider perimeterthan the top edge 109 such that exterior surface 106 tapers from the topedge 109 down to the base perimeter 101. The tapering exterior surface106 may have a plurality of markings or designs 105 that provide avisually pleasing surface. FIG. 3 illustrates a frontal view of thefootpad 100 and a front tab 103 attached to the exterior surface 106with a ridge 104 that provides a surface suitable for a user's thumbnailwhen securing, orienting, and removing the footpad 100. The front tab103 may be operable to provide a user with a surface for orienting thefootpad 100 in the desired direction and for removing the footpad 100from a furniture leg 400L in applications where the interior side wall107 is snugly secured around the exterior surface of the furniture leg.The interior side wall 107 may have an exterior surface 107 b providinga cavity thickness. FIG. 4 illustrates a cross sectional view of thefootpad 100 of FIG. 3 about the line segments A-A and shows the baseperimeters 101 bottom surface may be offset from the bottom surface 102b of the cavity 102 to allow clearance for the adhesive pad 110 andprovide a flush surface when the weight of the furniture compresses thefootpad 100 and the adhesive pad 110. Between the exterior inner surface106 i and the cavity outer side wall 107 b there may be a hollowinterior construction. The exterior surface 106 and the cavity may beattached together at the joint 108, the hollow construction is operableto allow the exterior surface 106 to flex about the corner 108 and topedge 109 when the footpad 100 is secured to a furniture foot 400L andmay provide a flush fit of the base perimeter 101 with the floor. Theexterior perimeter 106 and the interior surface 107 may have acomplementary geometry with proportional cross-sectional geometries andform a side wall, for example, not limiting the invention, the geometrymay be circular as illustrated in FIG. 2 or rectangular as illustratedin FIG. 8 , The footpad 100 may have a perimeter 106 and interiorsurface 107 that are manufactured to complement the geometry of afurniture leg 400L. FIG. 6 shows a bottom view of the footpad 100, whichmay include a removable film that is removed with a pull tab 111 toexpose the adhesive pad 110.

In some embodiments, the adhesive pad 110 may have a three-piececonstruction, including a flexible mid-plate 110 b, a permanent adhesive110 a, and a nano gel tape or pad 110 c, as illustrated in FIG. 7 . Thepermanent adhesive 110 a may fix the mid-plate 110 b to the cavitybottom surface 102 b. The nano gel tape or pad 110 c may be fixed on theopposite side of the mid-plate 110 b and may be operable to secure thefootpad 110 to the ground temporarily. The nano gel tape or pad 110 cmay be washed and cleaned to remove dirt and dust from the footpad, andthe adhesive properties of the nano gel tape may be restored forresecuring furniture to the floor.

In some embodiments, the footpad 200 may have a body 201, a fastener203, and an adhesive 210 shown in FIGS. 9-10B. The body may have a topsurface 201 t and a bottom surface 201 b. The fastener may be centrallypositioned and perpendicular to the top surface 201 t of the footpadbody 201 as illustrated in FIGS. 10A, 10B. The adhesive 210 may bepermanently attached to the base bottom surface 201 b. The gel adhesive201 b may have a strong viscosity that is washable, reusable, andoperable to maintain the adhesive characteristics after drying. Thefastener 203 may be advanced into the center of the furniture foot 400L.In such embodiments, the footpad 200 has a simple constructioneliminating the conduit 102 and interior surface 107 as illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 . In some embodiments, the gel adhesive 210 may have a similarconstruction as the adhesive pad 110 shown in FIGS. 1-7 . FIG. 10Aillustrates a top view of the footpad 200 and the fastener 203 centrallypositioned around the perimeter of the body.

What is claimed is:
 1. An anti-slip furniture footpad comprising: a. arigid body comprising a bottom surface, a top surface, a perimeter, anda cavity having a geometry operable to receive a foot of a furnitureleg; and b. an adhesive pad secured to said rigid body's bottom surface.wherein said adhesive pad is permanently secured to said bottom surfaceof the rigid body on one end and is operable to temporarily secure saidfootpad to the floor on an opposite end thereby positioning thefurniture and preventing slip of said furniture foot.
 2. The footpad ofclaim 1, wherein said adhesive pad comprising a polyurethanenanostructure that is washable with water and is reusable when theadhesive pad dries.
 3. The footpad of claim 1, wherein said rigid bodyis a thermoplastic that is manufactured using extrusion, injection, andmolding methods.
 4. The footpad of claim 1, wherein said rigid bodycavity is operable to secure around a furniture leg with a depth in arange of about 0.125 inch to about 1 inch.
 5. The footpad of claim 1,wherein said cavity has a geometry complementary to a perimeter of saidfurniture leg.
 6. The footpad of claim 1, wherein said temporaryadhesive is a polyurethane gel that is operable to be cleaned with waterwhile retaining the adhesive properties after drying.
 7. The footpad ofclaim 1, further comprising a tab tapering off from a top edge of saidto top surface to said bottom surface and is operable to provide asurface for gripping and removing said rigid body from said furnitureleg.
 8. The footpad of claim 1, wherein said adhesive pad furthercomprising a semi flexible plate comprising a top surface having apermanent adhesive operable to secure the plate to said rigid bodybottom surface, and a bottom surface having a temporary adhesive.
 9. Thefootpad of claim 6, wherein said temporary adhesive is operable toanchor said rigid body to the floor without transferring adhesiveresidue to the floor.
 10. An anti-slip furniture footpad comprising: a.a rigid body comprising a bottom surface, a top surface, and aperimeter; b. a fastener on said rigid body top surface operable tosecure said rigid body to a furniture leg; and c. a temporary adhesivepad having a top surface permanently fixed to said bottom surface ofsaid rigid body and includes a bottom surface operable to temporarilysecure said footpad to the floor. wherein said rigid body is secured abottom of a leg of said furniture with said fastener and replaces anypadding of said furniture and is operable to adhere to a surface therebypreventing slip of the furniture foot.
 11. The footpad of claim 10,wherein said adhesive pad has a polyurethane nanostructure that iswashable with water and is reusable when the adhesive pad dries.
 12. Thefootpad of claim 10, wherein said fastener is threaded into the bottomsurface of a foot of a furniture leg and permanently secures saidfootpad to said furniture leg.
 13. The footpad of claim 10, wherein saidrigid body perimeter is complementary to a perimeter of said furnitureleg.
 14. The footpad of claim 13, wherein said perimeter may besubstantially circular, rectangular, square, oval, triangular and may beflush with said perimeter of said furniture leg.
 15. The footpad ofclaim 11, wherein said polyurethan nano structure does not transfer anyresidue to said floor after removal from the securing area.
 16. Thefootpad of claim 10, wherein said fastener on said rigid body topsurface is centrally positioned on said top surface, and has a centralaxis that is perpendicular to said top surface.